Brigham Young University junior Rich Nelson won his preliminary round of the steeplechase at the NCAA Championships in 8 minutes 41.85 seconds and went on to take 10th in the final. At the USA Track and Field Championships, Nelson took 16th in the prelim against top US competition. Going into his last year as a Cougar, his goals are to be an All-American in cross country.Are you running right now or are you still taking time off?
I'm just barely up and running again after USAs and whatnot. I took a little bit of time off and I'm just running again...easy mileage.
What's “easy mileage” for you?
Just like 60 miles.
I'm not a very high mileage guy.
On a tough week of training, what kind of mileage will you hit?
I usually hit around 75. Never more than 80. Coach and I are going to work on that and try to get me up to 85 this year. Hopefully that will give me some more endurance so I can get better in cross.
Last year when you took 100th (scoring) in cross country, I'm guessing that's not where you wanted to be.
Yeah. That's right. I had high goals for myself. I was All-Region and stuff. I did well going into Nationals and fell apart. I was sixth for my team. I didn't even end up scoring for my team.
While you were usually third or fourth?
Yeah. But we have a pretty good pack, so I was a three-four-five guy.
So, what are you goals going into this cross country season?
I want to be an All-American. I'm coming off an All-American track season and that right there makes you hungry for more every time. I feel like once you hit that goal, you don't want anything less. I know I haven't reached my full potential yet in cross country. That's what I'm going for.
Can you sum up your outdoor season? How did you feel about it?
It was awesome. It was the coolest season I've ever had, highlighted by winning the West Region in the steeplechase and then winning my prelim for nationals. I kind of died a little bit in the final and got 10th. I managed an All-American bid and had a chance to go run at USA Nationals, running against all the guys I've been watching on TV since I was a little kid. It was definitely fun to go out there and see what I had against the best of the best. I almost made our school's all-time top-ten board and surpassed all my expectations and goals. Like any other track runner, once we hit those goals it's not good enough. We're greedy and we want more. That's what I want. More!
Are you doing any fun road races this summer or are you done until cross country?
I'm done racing. After USAs, I was pretty tired. Actually, at USAs I was pretty tired, pretty wasted. I wanted to run a little faster than what I did, but I think it was a long season that caught up with me in the end. I'm welcoming the break and getting some good mileage in, some good base for cross.
When did you get married?
I got married December 27th, this past year. Here name is Shara Lynn Frederickson and things are great. It's been over six months now. Married life is fun and good.
Is it difficult to be a typical college student while having a wife?
I think it's more difficult being a college student and being an athlete. With having to juggle training and schoolwork can be pretty rigorous. Being married just helps me with everything. I don't have to worry about parties or whatever else (laughs) because I go home to my wife and we hang out. In running, she's my biggest supporter. She's really had fun getting to know track and the whole running thing, because you know us runners are a different breed. You've got to enter into the running community a little bit. She's been having fun seeing what it's like behind the scenes in the running world. It's the same for my mom and dad with me and my brother and sister. We all got into running at the same time. All of a sudden, we got into this running world that was pretty intense. It's different for people who aren't around it everyday like we are. It takes some getting used to and once you get into it and see how cool it actually is, it's a lot of fun and pretty dang exciting. She's really catching that. It's really cool because with her doing that, it helps me knowing that she's supporting me. I've heard of other guys where their wives haven't been that supportive of them and it kind of wrecks their career. It's nice to have her by my side.
You have brothers and sisters running as well?
My little sister, Andrea Nelson, is a two-time state cross country champion in the state of Washington. She's the baby of the family, so we've got a good one there. My older brother and my old sister started us all off as a running family.
Where will your two-time state champion sister going to be going to college?
She'll be a senior this year. She won the state 4A as a sophomore and the school moved down to 3a, so she won the 3A as a junior. She's got one more year...but I'm sure she'll come to BYU. (Laughs) We've got a Cougar family.
What allows such good steeplechase running at BYU?
We like to call ourselves “Steeple U” to be honest. It's kind of bold of us...but I think we're backing it up pretty well. We've had Josh McAdams come through and before him was Matt Adams. After him was Chandler Goodwin and Derek Taylor. That's five All-Americans in the last five years. With the guys in front of us having the success that they've had, it raises the bar for the whole team. We just fill each other's shoes and thrive off each other. It's great.
You didn't crack your school's top-ten list with your 8:41 in the steeple?
I was .2 seconds off. At the top of our list is 8:21 by Henry Marsh, a multi-Olympian. Kyle Perry (Kyle Perry KWIK-E) put himself second this year with his 8:29 and third is Josh McAdams, another Olympian. We've got a well-decorated board. That's what I'm saying, we thrive off of that pressure, having those guys ahead of us doing so dang well. The bar is really high in the steeplechase and in every distance event at BYU. We set the bar high and go for it. We've got an amazing coach in Ed Eyestone and he helps us get it done.
Can you talk about what it's like to have Coach Ed Eyestone there?
Coach Eyestone's the best. Not only is he a great coach, but he's a friend to everyone on the team. I think the biggest thing with Eyestone is that he's been there before. He's been where all of us have dreamed to be. At the Olympics two times. He's been at I don't know how many national championships. He knows what that pressure's like and what we're going through. He's stepped up to that pressure and it's helped us do the same. A lot of us owe a lot to Coach Eyestone and his knowledge and his experience. He doesn't push us too hard...which sounds kind of weird. He expects a lot of us and raises the bar high, but he doesn't push us...he expects us to push ourselves. He doesn't get on us hard, but he inspires us and his expectation level makes us push ourselves. When we get in there as a team and push each other...that's when we thrive. He's the key piece that holds it all together and what he's done with the steeple crew is pretty dang impressive. To have All-Americans after All-Americans like that.
Not everyone can turn on the TV and hear their coach commentate track and field for NBC.
He got into a little bit of trouble because he was showing a little bit too much favoritism for Josh McAdams in the steeple races (laughs). But, I think that's allowed.
If you could have one meal, prepared by anyone, what would you have and who would make it?
Oh, my mom's spaghetti...or her chicken mozzarella. That's where it's at. She makes it every time I come home...by request.
Can you give me a crazy running-related story?
When I was in high school in Spokane, Washington (Shadle Park High School), we were running near some railroad lines and found a huge bridge that connected two hills. It was just for trains and was (is) literally over 100 feet above ground and probably a good 80 meters long. Well, we of course thought that this would be a fantastic bridge to pee off of and so got up the courage to run to the very center of the bridge and aim for the road way down below. So many illegal things, but anyway. Of course we are having our fun and we hear a train whistle in the distance. Everyone just freezes and we turn around to see a train coming around the bend. I think we all set PR's in the 40 that day as we sprinted off the bridge. The train was about halfway across the bridge when we got off. It was freaking hilarious, mostly because it turned out fine.
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